The Winners

Over nine weeks and five workshops, young photographers from all over the country entered their images of their #UntoldHeritage, leaving the judges and the public with HUNDREDS of images to choose from.

Here you will find the judges selection of winning images; 1 winner in each age group alongside 4 runners-up. You will also find the public vote winners and a small selection of shortlisted and international images of note.

The judging panel consisted of:
– Ronan McKenzie – Photographer, director and curator, featured in Photoworks Festival 2020
– Dominique Bouchard – Head of Learning and Interpretation, English Heritage
– Julia Bunnemann – Curator, Photoworks
– Ellie Turner-Kilburn – Queer History Now
– Sophie and Ben – Shout Out Loud Young Producers
– Martha Wood-Saanoui – Digitial Content Creator, Shout Out Loud

Family sharing their stories and reflecting on photos of ancestors

WINNER 18 AND UNDER

Image by
Maryam Rana

Category
Untold Heritage – General Response

About the image
My grandparents are seated with their grandchildren, telling them the story of our ancestors in the photographs. They are passing on their own memories to us so that our ancestors’ stories are not forgotten.

Judges comments
“I love this image because the gentle, everyday, soft representation of family is something so important yet rarely seen in this context. I love the physical connection between the older man and the children, it’s a special bond again that is often overlooked and unappreciated.” Ronan Mckenzie – Photographer, director and curator, featured in Photoworks Festival 2020.

“Maryam Rana’s photograph allows us to share in an intimate and family scene, where different generations have come together to explore the past and create new memories. Although the activity captured may seem familiar, the moment is documented so that the details of the photographs and heirlooms discussed are just beyond our reach. These ‘untold’ stories and ‘unheard’ voices are precious and important heritages that live on through memories passed down from generation to generation”.
Dr Dominique Bouchard, Head of Learning and Interpretation, English Heritage.

WINNER 19 -25

Image by
Jodie Bateman

Category
Household

About the image
This image I selected to represent household I feel is very unique in telling my story of my family as there is slight diversity captured within one image which may lead to many questions about my household.

Judges comments
“This image really encapsulates the UK for me, the mixture of cultures and stories even within one family is captured here in a really special and almost innocent way.”
Ronan Mckenzie – Photographer, director and curator, featured in Photoworks Festival 2020.

“This family scene is so relatable and honest. The artist has generously opened her home to us and has captured both the individuality and the togetherness of each member of her family. If viewers have questions about the diversity of heritages visible, the photograph avoids simplistic answers.”
Dr Dominique Bouchard, Head of Learning and Interpretation, English Heritage.

Runners up (18 and Under)

Jean

Image by
Charlotte Rowe

Category
Untold Heritage – General Response

The Flower Peacock

Image by
Aditi

Category
Untold Heritage – General Response

About the image
This is an image of a peacock made out of leaves and flowers laid out on the floor (called a pookalam) in order to celebrate a South Indian festival called Onam. We usually use flower petals but this year we went around our neighbourhood and collected a few leaves and flowers to make a colourful flower mat to signify the return of Mahabali and the prosperity of the harvest season. This ancient legend has been celebrated from generation to generation of the people of Kerala from all over the world.

Beauties of the Common Tool 2020

Image by
Chloe Phillips

Category
Heirlooms

About the image
I was inspired by Walker Evans and his neat and organised manner. Dad’s tools will be an heirloom for me one day.

Friendship necklace

Image by
Eesha Patel

Category
Untold Heritage – General Response

About the image
Me and my friends all have matching necklaces.

Runners up (19 - 25)

Tom, my Labrador from India'

Image by
Oliver Wright

Category
Pets and Animals

About the image
A few years ago I borrowed some studio lighting from my mum’s friend and set up a home studio to photograph dogs from the neighbourhood. This is my own dog Tom, he was a willing subject. He is a big part of my life, we bought him as a family whilst living in India and he travelled back with us to the UK and is now part of the history of my life. He will be 9 in November. The Labrador breed in Britain dates back to at least the 1830s when it was first introduced from ships trading between the Labrador region of Canada and Poole in Dorsetshire. Its early patrons included the Earl of Malmesbury, the Duke of Buccleuch, the Earl of Home, and Sir John Scott.

Knife and Thumb

Image by
Abigail Evans

Category
Heirlooms

About the image
The main connection to his heritage my Granddad shared with me was the food of his home country of Guyana. He was poor at sharing recipes, cooking too quickly and just getting on with it or sneaking in secret ingredients. A few years after he died, my mum and I both really specifically fancied something in the style of “jungle food”, as he called it, which involves fried plantain, dumplings, coconut-y sauce and often fresh fish. This image shows my mum’s hands, which I share, as she peels the tough skin of the plantain, I love all the softened points and tips and the proximity we feel looking at it.

Untitled from series - Women from the Pakistani Diaspora

Image by
Maryam Wahid

Category
Untold Heritage – General Response

About the image
This self-portraits project is composed in Birmingham and explores my mothers identity as an 18-year-old woman of Pakistani origin who emigrated to The United Kingdom. I depict these images by showcasing outfits that were worn by my mother over 35 years ago and by visiting the places that were significant to her life as a young migrant woman in Britain.

The women from the Pakistani diaspora who relocated to the UK were very often the hardworking wives, daughters, mothers and grandmothers of individuals who had migrated from cities, towns and small villages in Pakistan. These individuals came to the UK to work in key industrial sectors and set up businesses that contributed towards the healthy economy of their new-found nation. Pakistani women provided a crucial envelopment of familiarity and comfort that gave their husbands, fathers, children and grandchildren a sense of their place of origin – making it a home away from home. Maryam’s self-portrait collection seeks to recognise the existence and achievements of such Pakistani women and their role as the backbone of a community that transformed inner-city Britain.

Today, British Pakistani women continue to revolutionise gender roles for other women through the determination, emotional support and encouragement of their female peer network.

Cafe

Image by
Giada

Category
Untold Heritage – General Response

Public Vote Winners

These were the two top voted images (from UK based photographers) on the #UntoldHeritage gallery page.

Just Chilling

Image by
Alfie

Category
Pets and Animals

Joyce Lootes at the dinner table on Christmas Day.

Image by
Nathan McGill

Category
Untold Heritage – General Response

About the image
Part of The Trevor Berry Archive project delving into the archival slide photographs and life stories of Mr and Mrs Berry and her close-knit family. In which the process of unearthing this archive has been a collaborative effort between myself and Mr Berry’s wife, Mrs Joyce Berry. The images share their history, memory and bereavement through the collection of oral histories alongside the images.

International Entries of note

Image by
Charles Williams

Category
Untold Heritage – General

About the image
This is a photograph of my father that is White and my grandmother that is Black. My brother is the bridge that connects both family members together. Even though they’re sitting next to each other there is still separation and my brother is what holds them together as one.

Image by
Ikon Shepard

Category
Untold Heritage – General Response

About the image
I want to explore the untold stories and heritage of Africans, to see that it’s not only about slavery but the rich culture we have as a continent.